I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solution for cleaning a cooling system of an engine of oxidized material, such as rust, sludge and the like.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Internal combustion engines, compressors and the like (hereinafter collectively called engines) oftentimes include liquid cooling systems. Conventionally the engines and systems include at least some ferrometallic components. These liquid cooling systems comprise a heat exchanger or radiator which is fluidly connected to cooling passageways formed in the engine. In operation, a liquid, often including an antifreeze, is continuously circulated through the engine cooling system in order to remove the internal engine heat. This engine heat is dissipated by the radiator to air flow through the radiator.
A common problem with these previously known cooling systems is that the liquid contained within the cooling system becomes congested with oxidized material or rust over a period of time. This oxidized material ultimately coalesces in sludge which can cause blockage of the cooling system and particularly blockage of the relatively small tubes in the radiator of the cooling system. When such blockage occurs, it impairs the efficiency of the cooling system which can result in damage to the engine from overheating. Furthermore, such blockage in the radiator or other portions of the cooling system cause restrictions in the fluid flow of the cooling system thus requiring more pumping power in order to circulate the coolant through the cooling system. Since the coolant is conventionally pumped by a power takeoff from the engine, such blockage necessarily decreases the overall efficiency of the engine.
It has been the previous practice to simply flush the liquid from the coolant system whenever excessive oxidized material is present within the system. Such flushing, however, is disadvantageous for a number of reasons.
One disadvantage of flushing the cooling system is that such flushing is a messy and time consuming job. Furthermore, since the liquid flush from the cooling system is simply discarded and the cooling system filled with new coolant, flushing the cooling system is expensive due to the cost of the new coolant or included antifreeze.
A still further disadvantage of the previously known practice of flushing the cooling system is that flushing the cooling system removes some, but not all, of the oxidized material. Consequently, the previously known practice of flushing the cooling system is only partly effective to remove oxidized material.